


Best By Date

by SkyWrite



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Belly Rubs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Stomach Ache
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1261042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrite/pseuds/SkyWrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein the Doctor does not read food labels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best By Date

Rubbing his eyes, Rory rolled over to see his wife, Amy, trying to sneak her way out of bed.  
"Where're you goin'" He mumbled in a sleepy voice and yawned. Amy glanced back over her shoulder.  
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to wake you, yeah. Listen."  
Rory would have preferred to return immediately to the pillow but he lifted his head obediently and listened carefully. Someone was moaning softly in the central control room.  
"Sounds like the doctor." Rory said, falling back to his side of the bed exhaustedly. "He'd wake us up if it were something serious, you know he'd love the chance for the attention."  
Amy blinked, weighing the options. Her husband waited for the resigned sigh and the feeling of her body curling up next to his once more, but the Scottish woman shook her head and slid her slippers onto her feet.  
"Back in a minute. Just going to check."  
"Hmm..." Rory hummed slightly as she left the room, his breath settling back into a gentle snore. Amy smiled to herself.  


She crept up to the edge of the softly lit room at the center of the TARDIS, looking for signs of the Doctor, when she spotted him sprawled out on the floor. His deceptively young face was heavy with a frown, and his hands rested on his abdomen. After a moment, he clutched his stomach tightly and gave another moan, before the cramp apparently passed and he went limp again.  
Amy's eyes strayed to a mostly empty bowl with a bit of custard still sticking to the inside, and an empty cardboard box with a picture of fish fingers on the front. She frowned, knowing it was his favorite food, but never having seen the strange combination give him an upset stomach before. He'd probably eaten it hundreds of times by now.  
She walked quickly down the short flight of stairs and the doctor glanced at her sheepishly. "You should be in bed, Pond." The Doctor declared as casually as if he were standing up, manning the controls and not laying sick on the floor.  


"Couldn't sleep." She said airily and raised her eyebrows at him. Bending down, she picked up the empty box and read the label before sighing heavily. "You really are nine." She said tiredly with a bit of humor. "The expiration date on this was two months ago."  
"But this is a time machine Pond." The Time Lord groaned, shifting his weight restlessly. "How was I supposed to-"  
"Because Rory and I write down the dates of our shopping trips so we know how much time is left." She pointed to a date written on the box in sharpie. "Two months. No wonder it's making your belly hurt."  
As if in agreement, the Doctor's stomach gurgled loudly. He blushed, embarrassed and opened his mouth to order her to bed again, but all he managed was another groan.  
Amy sighed, and knelt down next to her alien friend, brushing his sweaty bangs from his eyes. "I know you think your biology is so much more efficient than humans, but that doesn't mean you can eat just anything."  
"Yes Pond." The Doctor mumbled meekly.  
"You got a bedroom on board this ship don't you? You have to sleep sometime, even if it's not as much as we do."  
"Down the hall, third door on the left." The Doctor said softly, still blushing. Amy worked her arm behind his shoulder and helped him to sit up, then supported his weight as he rose shakily to his feet. He kept one hand pressed to his rumbling stomach, looking more than a little green.  


"Are you going to throw up?" Amy asked worriedly, but he shook his head. "All right. Lets just get you to bed then." She proceeded to nearly drag him down the hallway. He didn't bother changing into anything more comfortable, which led Amy to wonder if he had any night clothes at all. Ah well, that was a question for another time. The Doctor all but collapsed on the bed, first face down, then rolling to his back as his stomach gave another undignified protest.  
Amy couldn't help but chuckle sympathetically at the distressed expression on his face as he settled back onto the pillows. She sat carefully on the edge of the bed.  
"S'not funny." He complied, his frown deepening. "It hurts."  
"Oh doctor." Amy laughed. "You know I don't think you being in pain is funny. Just that I've seen you stand up to all manner of terrifying and dangerous things in the universe and then seeing you reduced to a state like this over a belly ache..." She shook her head. "It's actually quite sweet." She patted his hand lovingly.  
The Doctor pouted and closed his eyes, preparing to sleep, when he felt Amy reach up and began unbuttoning his shirt. He wondered bewilderedly what she thought she was doing, but before he could get the thought out she had exposed his throbbing stomach and begun rubbing gently at just the right spot. Before he could stop it, a relieved moan escaped through his lips and his body, rigid with pain, relaxed. Her human hands were so much warmer than his normal body temperature and the Time Lord couldn't bear to order away the heat and welcome pressure on his aching belly.  


"Don't tell Rory." He mumbled, resigned. Amy smiled and continued the massage. "Of course not. He'd be jealous." She felt a wave of tenderness for the Doctor as she felt both his heartbeats slow down from their stressed rhythms. She started to feel guilty the more she tried to soothe his indigestion, feeling his stomach shift and churn beneath her hands. It seemed to be a lot worse than he'd probably be willing to admit.  
The Doctor himself had already fallen asleep, but Amy continued to rub his belly until it had settled at least somewhat. She started to rebutton his shirt, but then realized he'd likely be more comfortable if she didn't, and pulled the comforter up to his bare chest. The Doctor's stomach grumbled gratefully in response, and she laughed softly.  


Rory woke up marginally as his wife slipped back into bed next to him and hugged his waist as she cuddled up to his back.  
He smiled contentedly before asking, "What was wrong?"  
"He ate some spoiled food. Gave himself an awful belly ache. I put him to bed." Any whispered sleepily into her husband's ear and kissed his neck.  
Rory blinked once before closing his eyes to go back to sleep. "He has a bed?"


End file.
